The Villain Within
by LaVidaDeLosMuertes
Summary: The avengers are back, but when Steve and Tony find themselves falling for each other will the dynamics of the team be thrown, or will they grow stronger? This is part superfamily/superhusbands fic about Steve and Tony and young Peter Parker and part Avengers fic about all of them kicking butt and taking names. Rated M just in case.
1. Chapter 1

The Villain Within

It was five long months after The Avengers defeated Loki, Tony sat in his work area twirling a pen between his fingers, baffled by his latest work on his suit. His back was stiff and his muscles still ached and pinched from the last high altitude run he took the suit on, in which the metal in the legs began to crush in on him. His cellphone buzzed and nearly fell off the table before he snapped back to reality. "Call from: Steve" the phone's display read. Tony was exhausted, having not slept in a couple of nights and was barely able to comprehend his hands answering the call and slowly raising the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he said softly, his cheeks were red and warm with sleepiness.

"Uh, hello, it's Steve, Steve Rogers?"

"I know who you are, Cap, what's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted company?"

"Uh… Not tonight, Cap – I"

"Ah! A night cap, that sounds perfect, I'm waiting downstairs"

"You're, wait, what?"

"Come on already, it's cold"

Tony got to his feet and stumbled to grab his jacket and head outside. Outside his mansion he saw a smiling Steve, his sweet child's face beamed at Tony in the dim outside light. Steve popped the collar on his brown leather jacket to guard his neck from the oddly chilly October wind, and for a brief second Tony found himself admiring Steve's sense of style.

"Hey Tony, how's it hangin'"

"Cap no. Just, no."

"What, am I being too bodacious for you?"

"If you're going to try and be hip-" Tony did air quotes around hip "-at least get the century right."

"Bruce made me watch a Ninja Turtles Marathon" Steve said, a goofy grin on his face. "They're the best"

"How the hell did you get in here without Jarvis telling me?" Tony said, ignoring his friend.

"I asked Jarvis not to tell you" Steve said, a little bit upset at being ignored.

"How's that phone working for you? I tracked down the simplest one I could find for you" Tony said, ignoring Steve again.

"It's good. It's strange though, being in touch with people at all times. I want one like yours now, I think I could take it on."

"Steve, are you joking? You're using one of the first cell phones that isn't the size of a briefcase, it doesn't even have a display on it, and you think you're ready for a phone like mine? A phone with a bigger, more advanced processor than most modern computers? A phone with more advanced software than _all_ modern computers that aren't made by Stark Industries. You're ridiculous, I mean, look, Cap I get it, you're trying be cool and hip and to fit in but how about you just take a look at yourself, you're an old man, you don't belong here with all of this technology, all of these people in the age of the internet, a concept which you can't understand because _you can't see it_, you belong in a geriatrics ward somewhere, Steve. Not walking around with a cell phone that can, _and has_, taken down an empire by itself" Tony's rage quickly fell as he looked at his friend's face. Steve looked as though Tony had beat him, here he was just trying to be Tony's friend, just joking around and trying to have a good time and Tony had to go and shout at him.

"I'm sorry Cap, it's just… I'm trying to get the suit working and it's tried to kill me twice, and Pepper won't quit nagging me about Stark Industries, and about this fund raiser and that one, and this appearance I have to make, and this dinner that she doesn't want me at, and then the SHEILD agents showing up _in my bathroom _at odd hours of the night to tell me about a mission that they actually don't want me to know about." Tony stood still and took a deep breath, then playfully hit Steve on the arm. "I'm sorry, Cap" Tony looks around on the road leading up to his mansion, then to Steve, who is standing in the center of the road, his eyes look full of pain.

"Cap… I didn't mean it, alright? I've got a lot going on, you know?"

"Tony. Shut up. You're right—"

"I am not! I was just being dramatic! I didn't mean it!"

"Tony! Quiet. You're right, I don't belong here, but I never asked to be here. I served my time, and I was to die a valiant death. I didn't go looking to be frozen and brought back in a time that makes no sense to me. I didn't go looking to be part of a superhero task force where everything that they do involves some kind of technology that I can only explain by assuming witchcraft." Tony turns his back to Steve, unable to look at him when he's so upset. The two pause, the silence between them nearly tangible.

"Tony, Look at me." Steve says after a long moment. Tony slowly turns to look at his friend again. "You aren't the only one with problems, okay? You aren't the only one with a lot on their mind. Tony, I was there too, I fought along side you, remember? I know how you think, I know that you are holding all of the damage and all of the death on your shoulders, you are blaming yourself when in reality, you are the hero of this story, you risked your life to save everyone, and you came back, Tony, that says a lot." Steve takes a deep breath, surprised by all that he said. "Tony, you're my best friend, please, for tonight can we just pretend that everything is normal?" Tony stares into Steve's eyes for a moment before Steve breaks eye contact and starts walking into the mansion.

"Are you coming?" He says, not looking at Tony.

"Wait, where's your car?" Tony asks as he jogs to catch up.

"I walked" Steve says quietly, almost embarrassed. Tony stares after his friend in astonishment and then catches up with him again.

"You know, I'm going to have to go through my security protocols again and figure out how you got in here. Jarvis won't even let me in here sometimes."

"He likes me more I guess"

" You do know that Jarvis is a computer, right?" Tony asks with genuine interest. Steve stairs at him for a moment, the gears turning in his head quite slowly.

"Y…. Yeah I knew that."

Tony and Steve walk back into the large mansion and into the kitchen, where Tony pulls out a bottle of whiskey and two short whiskey glasses. Tony pours the whiskey slowly, avoiding eye contact with Steve.

"Jarvis, tell me how Steve managed to get in here without my knowing" Tony says to the room.

"He asked me not to tell you, sir" Jarvis replies in his calm voice.

"And since when is that all it takes to let people in?" Tony says back, handing a glass to Steve and setting the whiskey aside.

"There was no perceivable threat, sir."

"Yeah, famous last words, eh?"

"Sir, as I recall it Mr. Rogers _did_ offer to take me out to sushi if I let him in"

"Jarvis, you're a computer, how are you going to go out to sushi with Steve?"

"I'm sorry sir, I was so flattered that I didn't think it through."

Tony looks at Steve who is blushing slightly.

"Well don't let it happen again" Tony says and takes a long swig of his whiskey. Steve sips off of his own whiskey despite his inability to get drunk. Suddenly, his face changes from a mixture of guilt, pain and embarrassment to excited.

"So did you hear what our next assignment is?" Steve asked, hoping that Tony didn't know what he was talking about, which was more likely than not.

"Something about an orphanage in Germany?"

"It's not an orphanage, and it's not in Germany. It's a Russian compound where they did experiments on people, I read about it a couple years… A while ago. They were trying to imbue men with different abilities of animals like flight and underwater breathing"

"Kind of like the super soldier program?" Tony asks, folding his arms with sudden interest.

"Yeah kind of, only _they_ didn't have a panel of the best scientists in the world. In fact they were shut down because the subjects kept dying, but apparently when they did a clean up of the lab some of the drug they were producing leached into the water supply or something and a bunch of people got sick, and then they started having children shaped like giraffes or all together unrecognizable, so the government rounded up all of the affected people and put them in a big facility and blew up the lab" Tony stares at Steve with a blank face.

"So, what do they need us for?" He asks, unfolding his arms to refill his glass. Steve swallows down the rest of his own whiskey and pours himself some more as well.

"I don't know, we're all supposed to get together for a meeting tomorrow at the HQ…" Steve says, swishing the whiskey around in the glass and taking a sip. "Guess we'll find out then?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Tony awoke on the floor of his bedroom, groggy and hung-over. He found himself trapped in a net of blankets, and as he writhed about on the floor trying to get free he smelled the remnants of the night before, stale alcohol and stomach acid, which stained his once pristine white t-shirt. Another smell swirled around in the sea of whiskey, Steve's ancient cologne, a mixture of pine trees, mint and vanilla. Tony sat up slowly, his eyes squinted shut and peeked over the edge of his bed, secretly hoping to find Steve lying there.

Tony's bed was bare, eliciting a sigh from the scientist. He pulled himself up onto the bed with his arms and freed himself from the blanket finally. He got up and walked down the stairs to the kitchen, looking for an aspirin and something to drink. Tony's clouded, hung-over mind played tricks on him, and for a split second the sight of Steve sitting on the couch watching Jersey Shore looked normal. Tony shook his head free of the storm in his mind and walked over to Steve.

"What are you watching?" Tony said, staring at Steve's look of shock.

"I thought it was a documentary on people with skin conditions, but it's just people getting drunk and passing out, and I think there's something wrong with your television because it keeps having blurry spots!" Steve let out in one breath. His blue eyes widened from the blasphemous program he had taken in and Tony changed the channel to a documentary about World War II.

"There, reality TV for an old timer" he said and pat Steve's head. Steve ignored Tony and the overwhelming guilt he felt looking at the images of death flashing on the screen. He changed the channel to a child's cartoon station and watched intently.

"Did you sleep alright?" Steve asked, gulping in air nervously.

"I don't remember" Tony said, still very groggy.

"You don't remember? Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Uh… Let me see, you came over and wooed my computer-butler, then we drank and you talked about a German Orphanage, and then after that I really don't remember anything"

"It's not German, and it's not-"

"An orphanage, I know I know." Tony said, batting at the air.

"Well, you got really weird and I was going to leave but you begged me to stay with you, so I did" Steve said, hanging his head. He put all of his effort into avoiding Tony's gaze. His cheeks grew a little pink with frustration and embarrassment.

"What do you mean I got weird? What's wrong?" Tony asked, flopping down on the couch next to Steve, who stiffened.

"I don't want to talk about it, I'm fine. That meeting is in an hour though." Steve said, his voice cracking over the words.

"Whatever. I'll go get dressed" Steve nodded, not looking at him. Tony got up and went to the bathroom off of his bedroom to shower and get ready.

Steve lay his head on the back of the couch and turned the volume down. His mind raced at a thousand million frames per second replaying memories of Tony, drunk and saying and doing things that Steve could hardly comprehend. Everything seemed to be moving in reverse to him, as if the world spun upside down. Steve contemplated leaving before Tony got out of the shower, but something inside of him told him to stay. The sudden feelings rushing around his body crashed like waves, waves that made him tingle and shiver all over. They felt very wrong, though deep inside Steve felt at home with himself for the first time in his life.

Tony had introduced Steve to many homosexuals since being unthawed, and not one of them acted like the horror stories that he heard as a young child. They also walked around happily with their partners, comfortable in their sexuality, yet another thing oh so new to Steve. That word though, homosexual, felt sharp and raw on Steve's tongue as he mouthed it over and over again to himself. It felt like a curse word, or some kind of pledge to the devil. He couldn't comprehend how a word could confuse him so much, and what did Tony call it? Gay? Yes that's right. Gay. If that's what it was called, why did Steve feel so undeniably unhappy about how 'gay' he felt?

Steve ran his fingers through his hair. Memories fired like guns in his head. The smell of Tony's whiskey breath, the touch of his rough fingers to Steve's lower back, Tony's soft lips pressing against Steve's bare shoulder, Steve's own lips touching Tony's, his heart beating in his ears, Tony's smile, hugging him, telling him that the feelings he had were okay, they were _normal_. Steve rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, turned the television back on and tried to ignore how his body tingled when he thought about Tony.

Tony washed himself quickly and got out of the shower. He stood in front of his sink and pulled out his shaving kit. He could hear the sound of a talk show coming from the television downstairs, and wiped the steam from the mirror as he tried to figure out what exactly Steve had chosen to watch now. Tony stopped like a deer in the headlights when he caught a glimpse of himself. The whites of his eyes were streaked with red and his normally tanned skin was a little too pallid for his liking, but that wasn't his focus at the moment. On his collarbone lived a small brownish pink mark, A suspicious anomaly to the untrained eye, but Tony had seen them many times before. It was a Hickey, but where from this time? All of a sudden he found himself reliving the night before in his head. He saw himself sitting next to Steve and taking in the soldier's pouty lips. He saw himself move closer to him, and Steve turning and looking at him confused. Then he saw Steve backing away a little bit, and heard himself saying "Cap, buddy, it's okay." He saw himself pushing closer to Steve until he was almost completely pressed against his friend. Then he watched as his hand ran down the back of the thick, chiseled, nervous Captain. And as he planted a kiss on Steve's jaw he was brought back to the present.

Tony's stomach churned with guilt and embarrassment, and as he took a deep breath he touched the small hickey on his shoulder, the only remnant of a rather intense make out session that could possibly ruin his friendship with Steve. Steve, his best friend, how could he do this to his best friend? He took advantage of an old man! Tony shook his head and buried the night before deep down.

"You ready?" Tony asked, waking Steve from the daze of reality television.

"Uh… Yeah, you?"

"Yep, let's get goin'"

"I didn't bring my car, though."

"Yeah… You know you really didn't plan that very well. We'll take mine, I'm thinking the Cobra"

"Yeah sure" Steve got up and walked as far from Tony as possible without seeming too rude. As they made it to the garage he realized which car Tony was talking about. A 1964 Shelby Cobra, the most compact car that Tony owned, of course. How fitting, the only time that Steve found himself trying to avoid Tony and he's going to be stuffed in the smallest car that he owns.

"I'd rather walk than take this jalopy," Steve said, crossing his arms and stamping his foot.

"Jalopy? Do you know how much I paid for this car? Just get in!"

"Tony I won't even fit, my legs will have to hang out the side."

"Just get in. Jarvis, tell Steve to get in the car"

"Mr. Rogers, I assure you that you will fit, Mr. Stark has fit many more people in that car than I would have thought possible, and I calculated the plausibility" The computer chimed in. Steve looked around and got into the car with a huff, followed by a sigh, because the seat coddled him like a mother's arms. It seemed far too comfortable for being such a small car. Tony got in next and brought the car to life, and the loud purring noise slowly rose to a roar as they quickly sped away toward the meeting point.

The pair rolled up on Dawson's Donuts, an abandoned building far out of town. Clint is sitting in the large donut replica on the roof, his back to the new arrivals.

"Legolas" Tony shouts up to him, nodding. Clint turns to look at them and finds his way down, following his teammates inside of the building. Tony steps through the door first, his eyes adjusting quickly to the dim light and takes off his sunglasses. Sitting at the old bar is an angry looking Nick Fury, next to him is the always beautiful Natasha Romanov.

"You're late" Nick Fury says, his voice booming in the plywood room. Sitting in a close by booth, looking out a window, Bruce Banner winces, and for a brief moment everybody stops and stares. Bruce doesn't look back at them, his heartbeat calm, simply startled by the sudden noise. He can feel the eyes slowly drift away from him as the others realize that he is no threat at the moment. Somewhere inside of him he can feel a familiar pain, but he ignores it and stands up next to Tony, who pats him on the back.

"So what exactly did you need us for?" Bruce says, squinting and letting his eyes adjust back to the room.

"New assignment. Unfortunately our Norse God friend is a little bit tied up with family matters at the moment, and can't join us." Agent Hill passes out manila folders with information on the mission in them.

"I imagine we won't be seeing him for a while?" Steve asks quietly.

"That is subject to circumstances" Nick replies, tapping his hands on the folders.

"Now, I'm sure y'all know by now, but just to go over it, there's a compound in Russia and they need us to go in, kick some superfreak ass and figure out why exactly they went berserk" Nick says, slapping the folder in his hands to the bar and sending a large cloud of dust spiraling into the air.

"Wait, why are we getting involved though, that's a little bit pedestrian to call us in, don't you think?" Bruce says, his arms crossed and head tilted.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that they killed nearly two hundred people, thirteen of which were their own" Nick says, a look plastered on his face that says "is that enough for you?" Tony nods as if to say that this mission is satisfactory and sits against a table.

"When do we roll out?" Tony asks.

"We drop you tomorrow, be ready by 0600 hours for pickup" Nick says and exits the room, Agent Hill close behind him.

"Well, sounds like quite the party" Tony says after the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents make their exits.

"If you're into that kind of thing" Natasha replies, hopping up on the bar, "Bruce, do you know anything about the experiments?" she asks.

"Well, I know that they were trying to genetically alter human beings into having animal like qualities"

"Like what?" Clint pipes in.

"Uh, well, like the strength of a gorilla, or the swiftness of a cheetah, that sort of thing"

"Oh… Well, did it work?" Clint asks eagerly.

"Not the way they had planned… Most of the cases that I looked over ended in patient death, but there were some inexplicable genetic mutations involving a local community whose water was contaminated when the labs were destroyed."

"Like that kid who was born with the neck of a giraffe" Steve states, crossing his arms and biting his thumb.

"Yes, only," Bruce pushes his glasses up on his nose, "that was a fake. It was planted by the Russian government to warrant locking up all those involved and affected." Bruce pauses and flips through his manila folder for a moment, landing on the picture of a small boy hanging upside down from a tree branch like a bat. Bruce shows the picture to his teammates "They had to lock them up because, well I think it was to do more experiments." The room stood still, Tony swallowed hard and flipped through his own folder.

"So, S.H.E.I.L.D. is sending us in to take care of some half animal things? What exactly should we expect?" Tony asked.

"Well based on these pictures we have a bunch of kids who can hang upside down and run really fast, so that should be interesting." Natasha jokes and jumps behind the bar to look around.

"Wait a minute, I heard about this a long time ago, why are there children?" Steve asks, concern spread across his face.

"It's like… You know how people breed dogs to obtain desirable traits? They're doing the same thing, only with super humans" Bruce says, trying not to stress the word superhuman too much around his friends.

"That's disgusting" Tony says as he checks his cellphone and nervously heads toward the door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, I have some business to attend to" And leaves, giving no thought to Steve, whom he drove. Bruce pats Steve on the back, "I'll drive you home" he says knowingly, and the two head out, waving to Natasha and Clint as they exit.

"I guess we better get ready for tomorrow" Clint says, and throws a board at the woman he loves, who catches it without looking.

"I guess so," she says, tauntingly and pounces over the bar toward him.


End file.
